Others’ Words, Others’ Voices: The Making of a Linguistic Anthropologist

Abstract

Starting from a recent flash of reflexive illumination experienced as a member of a dissertation committee, this act of (re-)constructive retrospection recalls the principal forces, experiences, and individuals that shaped my career as a linguistic anthropologist and turned my interests toward poetics, performance, language ideology, and remediation. Retracing my steps—sometimes halting, sometimes headlong—along the winding path that I have followed makes clear the degree to which my career has depended on the generous and energizing influence of my mentors, teachers, and colleagues, but also on the frustrating roadblocks placed in my way by less generous and understanding figures that led me to turn toward what proved to be far more productive directions. This reflexive process has also made clearer to me than ever before how strongly my career has been affected by the shifting conditions imposed by the political economy of higher education as I made my way in academe.